A Web of Lies
by XxXxDarkVampirexXxX
Summary: SPR always helps others deal with the paranormal. That's their job, after all. But what do they do when their client is Mai? Mai who works with them. Mai who loves them. Mai who was nearly killed in her own home. What exactly is she dealing with? Will the team be able to put their personal feelings aside to help her before the the evil entity can finally get to her...?
1. Chapter 1

**Yo, so here's yet another GHFF. ...I write too many of these. I was actually gonna wait till I finished writing it, before putting it up, but I got impatient, so here you go!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters...**

It was a bright, sunny August afternoon, and the day couldn't have been any better. Despite this though, it didn't take a genius to notice that something was wrong with eighteen year old Mai Taniyama. She had been behaving strangely for a while now, coming in to work with bags under her eyes, odd injuries that she always vaguely explained as being her own clumsiness. Though everyone knew something was wrong, and had asked her so, she always denied it. Nobody realized it yet, but they were about to find out just what had been going on in Mai's already bizarre life.

"Mai! Tea!"

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. Getting to her feet, she wandered over to the small kitchen area, where she began to prepare her boss' addiction. Something that would have sounded strange if you didn't already know it was tea. While the water was boiling, she made coffee for Lin, who had confessed to her a couple of weeks ago that he preferred coffee over tea. Once everything was ready, she placed her drink on her desk, headed to Lin's office to give him his own, then wandered over to the boss man's boss cave of bossiness.

Naru glanced up from his notes when Mai entered the room, and he immediately noticed that she had, once again, not slept the night before. Those circles under her eyes were beginning to get bigger and darker. And he didn't like it. His eyes narrowed when he saw what looked like a bruise on her arm. She had been wearing a long sleeved shirt when she had come in, even though it was the middle of summer and insanely hot, but it seemed like she had rolled up her sleeves and hadn't realized it.

Mai placed the tea cup on Naru's desk, and was about to turn away to leave, when he suddenly got to his feet. The girl's brown eyes widened in surprise when she caught sight of the intense look on her boss' face. He moved around the desk and came over towards her, causing her to take a step back. "Naru, what're you-ah!"

Naru grabbed her left wrist and shoved her sleeve up, fully exposing the dark mark on her forearm. (AN: ...That was not meant to be a Harry Potter pun.) "What is this? How did this happen?" he questioned, already feeling his anger rising.

Mai had not been acting like Mai for months now, at least, that was what he had heard. He and Lin had only returned from England about three weeks ago, but according to Bou-san, Matsuzaki-san, Yasuhara-san and John, she'd begun behaving in this odd way at least half a year prior to his return. That was also when the bags and injuries had begun appearing, and it was now time to find out why.

"What the hell's going on here, Mai?" he demanded. When she snatched her arm away, he crossed his own over his chest, in a manner that clearly said that he wasn't about to move anytime soon.

Mai was fully aware of Naru's stubbornness, and knew that if she didn't confess, he wasn't going to leave her alone. She let out a rather long sigh, before moving over to the other side of the desk and collapsing in her boss' chair. She saw him raise a brow in question and she sighed again. "If you really want me to explain all this, then I need to sit down. I don't really care that this is the boss man's chair at the moment."

"...Very well." Since Mai had stolen his chair, he took a seat on the corner of his polished desk. "Tell me, Mai, what's been going on?" He took his notebook and his pen, and prepared to take notes. Lin wasn't around to type it all down, so he knew he had to make a hard copy of what she was about to say. He knew that this was paranormal. It had to be.

Mai gave yet another sigh, and closed her eyes, collecting her thoughts. "Everything started around six months after you and Lin-san left for England with Gene's body," she began. "Ayako had this small house that she used to live in, but had been empty for a couple of months since her friends that had been living there moved away."

"Why didn't Matsuzaki-san live there anymore?"

"She found a bigger place, closer to the hospital that she works at. She had this friend who recently got married, and they wanted a place to stay, so she let them live there. But her friend's gonna have a baby, and the house won't be big enough anymore, so they moved out," explained Mai. "There's been a couple of break ins in my building, and everyone was getting kinda worried about me."

"And they all assumed it would be better for you if you no longer lived there, correct?"

The girl nodded. "Un. Ayako remembered about the house, and said I could live there, since it'd be safer. They didn't really want me living alone, but I sort of insisted on it. So I moved into that house about seven months ago." She paused, hesitated, then continued when Naru took a sip of tea.

"Everything was fine at first," she said slowly. "It took me a little while to get used to the place though. The house, the neighbourhood, the new walk to school, the store, you know, the usual. It just felt like a normal house. It didn't _feel_ haunted or anything. I never saw anything, heard anything, sensed anything strange. Nothing whatsoever."

"I'm assuming that all changed then?" he asked, feeling his curiosity beginning to build. It had to be bad if the girl was suffering like this. She had abilities, and had been taught to defend herself, but if she had been using those defences, then they clearly hadn't been working too well, which was actually rather worrying.

Slowly, Mai shook her head. "It was so...sudden. I just woke up one morning a couple of hours before my alarm was supposed to go off, and I was scared. I don't know why, but I was just really scared."

"What did you do?" asked Naru with a frown.

"I left the house and went over to Bou-san's. He lives the closest," replied Mai. "He was surprised to see me there at like, four in the morning, but I kinda just gave him some random excuse. I know he didn't believe me, but he didn't question me." She paused, thought. "When I went back, after school, the place just felt so different. It felt so dark, so... There's a word for it, but I can't remember what it is."

The young man thought for a moment. "Oppressive?"

"Yeah, that's the word- oppressive. That's how it felt, feels, inside." She sighed again. "I never saw whatever's in the house though," she said slowly. "I could only sense it because of how dark it was, is. I always feel as if I'm being watched, and sometimes I thought it was touching me. Like when I was in the bath or something, or changing."

Naru's eyes narrowed and his frown deepened. His anger rose at the thought of Mai being touched by something like that, something dark and dirty. He said nothing, silently allowing his assistant to continue, though his hand shook slightly as he went on taking notes.

"After a while, the injuries started. They weren't really bothersome at first, just small cuts and bruises. I actually thought I was doing them to myself by accident, until they began getting worse." She looked down at her arm and at the large, hand shaped bruise there. "This one here isn't really all that bad compared to the usual."

"How did this one occur?" Naru questioned, wondering why Mai seemed so...nonchalant with all this. She seemed too clam, in his opinion, which was actually rather surprising, comparing it to how she would have reacted the previous year. It seemed the girl had changed more than he had realized.

"It grabbed me while I was in the shower this morning." She shrugged. "This isn't the first time it's done that though. Yeah, it's bruised, but it'll heal eventually."

Naru simply stared for a moment. The old Mai would have begun a rant about how she wouldn't be able to wear the clothes she wanted outside, because of the mark on her arm and whatnot. This casual attitude however... "What's the worst thing this...entity has done to you?"

"That would depend," replied Mai. "Which do you consider worse? Drowning or being shoved down the stairs? Personally, I say drowning's worse."

Once again, all Naru could do was stare. _Did Mai just say what he thought she said?_ She nearly _died _in her home _twice_? Naru didn't know what was going on in the house Mai was living in right now, but he didn't like it at all. It was dangerous and, well, yeah, that was all, really. _If Mai stays in that house for much longer, she may actually die. _

Mai looked up when the phone on her desk in the lounge began to ring. "Gotta go, boss. Phone's ringing." She didn't even wait for Naru's response before getting to her feet and immediately leaving the room.

Naru watched her go, eyes narrowed, thoughts swirling through his mind. _The house belonged to Matsuzaki-san... Why the fuck would she put Mai in a haunted house? Especially if the activity was so bad that the girl only just managed to avoid death? _Moving around his desk, he slid into his chair and closed his eyes with a sigh.

_What were they going to do? ...Well that wasn't that hard a question. The answer was rather obvious, after all. The more difficult question here was, were they going to be able to help Mai...?_

**And that's it for now. I'm currently in the middle of the next chapter, but I'm not sure when it'll be done. As I'm sure the majority of you know, my updates are immensely slow. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yo. I finally finished the chapter, and decided that it would be best if I put it up before everyone starts hogging the laptop. So here you go.**

**Thanks to all readers so far.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters…**

It was a couple of hours later that Mai found herself in the kitchen area, making some more tea for Naru. She was actually a little surprised that he hadn't called for it earlier, but hey, she'd been able to get some more work done in place of standing around making and delivering tea for/to her boss.

It was nearing the end of her shift, and the girl was beginning to feel dread spread through her body. She was going to have to go home soon. The whole point of her moving out of her apartment building and into Ayako's old house, was so that she'd be safe, but instead of safety, she'd only found herself in more danger than she'd ever been previously.

Mai _really_ didn't want to go home, but it wasn't like there was anywhere else she could go. She didn't exactly have family member's whose houses she could crash at, and Keiko and Michiru wouldn't be able to have her over either, both for various reasons. There was always the option to go to one of SPR's member's houses, but then she'd have to explain about what was going on, and she really didn't want to go through that again. Bou-san would welcome her without question, but she felt bad about imposing on him again and again.

She really didn't have anywhere else to go. Sure, Naru knew about what was going on, but she wasn't about to ask him if she could spend the night at his house. Not after he had rejected her that way last year. Not when she still had feelings for him. Not when she dreamed about him nearly every night. No way, there was absolutely no chance in hell that she was going to ask him anything of the sort. None whatsoever.

"Mai."

_Shit._ "Yes, Naru?" Mai turned around to face her boss, who was standing the the 'doorway' to the kitchen area. He looked quite serious too, so she wondered what he was thinking. Naru was _always _thinking, after all.

"I want you to stay with me tonight."

Mai blinked. "What...?"

Naru took a step closer. "I don't want you alone in that house. Not until we check it out for ourselves. And _that_ we will be doing tomorrow. I've already confirmed it with the rest."

Mai blinked again. She knew what Naru was saying, but she couldn't exactly _understand_ it. The stuff she had been going through the past six months or so, had messed with her mind. Having to hide it all from her friends had made her feel so alone, had made her feel, to a point, that she shouldn't expect help from anyone. And yet...

Naru approached Mai suddenly, quickly, and enveloped her into his arms. "Stay with me tonight, Mai," he repeated. "Please..."

Yet again, Mai blinked. Naru was..._hugging_ her? She hesitated, then finally, right when she was about to respond to the hug, the kettle went off, forcing Naru to relinquish his hold on her. Silently, the girl completed the tea, then, handing it to her boss, answered him. "Alright, Naru... I'll stay with you for tonight..."

And then, without looking at him, she walked away. Naru stared after her, half relieved, half confused, unsure of what to do. _Why had he asked her to stay with him that night? Was he crazy? He was supposed to have told her to stay with Bou-san that night, not him! Bloody buggering hell..._

It was night now, and Lin, Naru and Mai had just made it home. The girl had known that Lin was Naru's guardian, but she hadn't known that the two actually lived together. It was a small apartment, only two bedrooms and a single bathroom. Mai had expected their place to be a lot bigger than it actually was.

"I'll sleep in the living room," said Naru after a moment, "so you can sleep in my room, Mai." _Why do you want her in your room? Isn't that just going to make things much harder for you? Knowing she's asleep in _your _bed? _"Come on." He led her over to the bedroom, and showed her where the bathroom was as he did so. "You may as well shower before you sleep."

Mai hesitated. "I don't have anything to change in to."

"Right..." Running a hand through his hair distractedly, Naru went over to his closest, grabbed one of his shirts, and tossed it at her. "There, that should be fine for the time being."

Trying to force back a blush at the thought of wearing nothing but one of Naru's shirts, Mai nodded and retreated into the bathroom, where she turned on the shower.

As soon as he heard the water turn on, Naru collapsed onto his bed with a sigh. _He had done it again. Now he was going to not only think about Mai sleeping in his bed, but sleeping in his bed wearing his shirt too. I have to stop doing that._ _Absolutely have to stop doing this...or else I'm going to go crazy..._

After getting out of the shower and changing, Mai returned to Naru's room, which was now empty. She closed the door, padded over to the large black bed, and sat down on the edge. She looked down at herself, at the shirt she was wearing. It was a simple black button down, like the one Naru _always_ wore.

Lying down, she turned off the bedside lamp. A second later, she closed her eyes tight. All she could smell was Naru. He was everywhere! It had to be expected, since this was his room, his bed, his clothes... _Oh gods..._ She turned onto her front and nuzzled her face into the pillow, an involuntary smile creeping onto her face.

_"Mai."_

_The girl opened her eyes, and realized that she couldn't see anything. She immediately knew where she was, and who had just called her name. Sitting up, she looked round and smiled. "Gene, long time no see."_

_Eugene smiled as well, and extended a hand. "Yeah. I hope you're well?"_

_Taking his hand, Mai was pulled to her feet. "As well as I can be," she replied. _

_Gene's smile saddened slightly. "I'm sorry about what you've been going through. I couldn't help you before, but I can now."_

_Mai frowned. "What do you mean?" she asked curiously. Naturally, if Gene could help, she'd be really glad, but she wasn't quite sure _how_ he would be offering her that help._

_"Come on." Tightening his hold on her hand, Gene led Mai over to what was a faint light in the distance. _

_As they walked, this light became brighter and brighter, until Mai had to bring up her free hand to shield her eyes. They walked through what looked like a doorway, and Mai was surprised to find herself standing in her living room. The odd thing was, it didn't _look_ like her living room. The room was the same, but it was decorated very differently._

_She looked up at her companion, clearly confused. Gene however, held a finger up to his lips, then pointed over at the hallway that led over to the front door. Mai looked over now as well, wondering what it was that Gene wanted her to see. Someone was walking over. More than one person. A woman, followed by a man, followed by...Ayako?_

_Mai looked up at Gene again, but he was still looking at Ayako and the couple she was with, so Mai also continued to watch. _Were these the people Ayako had allowed to live in the house before her? The married couple that had moved out when their baby was born?_ Still, Gene said nothing._

_"Why don't you two take a look around," said Ayako. "See if it's to your taste. It's kind of small, but..."_

_"Small?" Mai muttered, looking incredulous. "A whole group of people can live in that house!"_

_"Well, that's Matsuzaki-san for you," smiled Gene. _

_The two tried to refocus on the scene before them, but something strange began to happen. Everything started getting blurry. The image of the room they were in, the image of the other three in that room, began to waver, shimmer. It flickered in and out of existence, and then it was gone, fading back into the nothingness it had come from. _

_This surprised not only Mai, but Gene too. This had never happened before, and Eugene didn't understand what was going on. He looked around, trying to see something that Mai couldn't, a confused frown on his face. _

_Then, after a couple of minutes of this, he turned back to Mai. "Time to go, Mai. I meant to show you more, but it looks like that'll have to wait until later. I'll bring you back here when I figure out what's going on."_

_Slowly, Mai nodded. She wasn't exactly pleased, but what could she do? It wasn't as if Gene hadn't shown her everything on purpose. "Kay," she said. "See you." And closing her eyes, she allowed herself to float up and away into that never ending blackness..._

**And that's all for now. Dunno when the next chapter will be up. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!**


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